Without You
by Zbbal
Summary: Henry finds himself the pawn in a dangerous criminals game. This time even his culturally diverse abilities can't save him. It's up to his cousin Jasper and friend Maggie to save him, but without Henry's witty intelligence...what can they do? Henry/Jasper
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone. This is my first Unnatural History story. It's a crime/mystery/slash/romance kind of story. This story will be long, and it will be updated weekly. (Every Sunday night) Anywhozzles, on to the summary.**

**Summary: While looking for a new adventure, Henry finds himself the pawn in a dangerous criminals game. This time even his culturally diverse abilities can't save him. It's up to his cousin Jasper and friend Maggie to save him, but without Henry's witty intelligence…what can they do?**

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The faculty meeting had taken forever and Bryan Bartlett, dean of Smithson High, was ready to drop. It was just after midnight, and with school the very next day he knew his son and nephew would be fast asleep. Pulling his car into the driveway, he noticed something wasn't right. All the outdoor lights were off. Usually Jasper would leave the front light on so that his father could properly see where to put the key in to open the front door. Getting out of his car, he pulled out a small pocket light. Shining it towards the door, alarm hit him. The front door was wide open. He cautiously walked up to the door, slowly moving through the house. The furniture around the house was thrown about, and the smell of smoke alerted him to what was probably a recently put out fire. He moved towards the kitchen area, taking in the image of broken dishes all around him. A weak whimper coming from the floor caught his attention.

Brian Bartlett looked down, the sight of his son curled up in a ball in the corner of the kitchen consuming him. He could see a considerable pool of blood beneath Jasper, and from the deep gash on his son's arm he knew why. Bruises littered the boys visible flesh, and heavy breathing could be heard in the silence of the house. His son looked terrified, sending cold shivers down his own back. Burn marks on Jasper's hands confirmed his earlier suspicions of a fire. Something was definitely wrong.

_"Jasper…what's going on?"_

Jasper tried to get up, but it seemed to be too much and gravity pulled him back to the floor. In what seemed to be frustration, Jasper lifted his fist slamming it into the cabinet next to the one he was leaning on. The wood splintered around his hand, and a few drops of blood showed his dad just how hard he had hit the material.

_"…He got him Dad...He got Henry...__And I couldn't stop him…"_

_

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_

Immediately Bryan Bartlett picked his son up and raced to get him to the hospital. He figured he probably seemed crazy, but hoped with his emergency flashers on other motorist would understand. Jasper was quickly wheeled into the E.R. so they could begin to examine him for internal injuries. Sitting back in one of the waiting room chairs, he decided to see if he could get Henry from Jasper's cell phone. Jasper had handed him the phone once they had arrived at the hospital, telling his dad to answer no matter who called. He could hear the urgency and hope in his son's voice at the mention of a phone call, no doubt wanting to hear if Henry was okay. He dialed the number but the phone didn't even ring, instead going straight to voicemail. This wasn't a good sign. The instant voicemail meant the phone was off completely, so there really was no way to see if Henry was okay.

On the way to the hospital he had asked Jasper about the situation, and just who exactly had taken Henry. He had gotten very little from his son, fear etched in his voice even with the few words he spoke. So far all that Mr. Bartlett knew was that Henry, looking for adventure, had gotten involved with a dangerous individual. Jasper had made it clear that Henry was not involved with drugs or gambling, but rather into a criminal investigation. Henry had just been swept away with the case, and had randomly ended up right in the lap of the criminal mastermind.

_"Dad...this guy's sick. I don't even want to imagine...what he might have done to Henry."_

Thinking, Mr. Bartlett dialed Maggie from his son's phone. After several rings she answered, her cheery voice telling him right away that she didn't know what had transpired. He told her what little information he knew, and she told him that she'd be there as soon as possible. In the meantime, Mr. Bartlett waited patiently for the doctors to tell him the status of his son. He paced the halls, and had gone multiple times for coffee in the hospital cafeteria. Just as he went to go for another cup, he heard Maggie asking the woman at the Emergency Room desk where she could find him. He caught her attention and asked her to join him as he went to get another cup of their watered down coffee.

The conversed about this and that, not really talking about anything relative since Maggie didn't know anything about the situation. They moved back towards the waiting room, and within a hour the doctor came out. He had a grave look in his eye, and Maggie burst into tears. The man came over, but instead of sorrowful words a gentle smile graced his features. He gently patted Maggie's shoulder.

_"You must be Maggie. I'm Doctor Carl Morrison. He told me you'd be here waiting and that you'd cry when I came out. Don't you worry, he's fine," _he turned to look at Mr. Bartlett,_ "And you must be his father, Brian Bartlett. Nice to meet you. As I said, I'm Doctor Carl Morrison, and your son is doing fine now."_

_"Yes, I'm his father. How is he exactly?"_

_"As far as my medical diagnosis goes, he has several broken ribs and his right ankle is broken. We've worked on some internal bleeding he had, and he should be fine now. He has a very mild concussion, and the gash on his arm is all stitched up. The bruises will heal over time. Mentally, he seems to be sharp as a needle. Most kids would be kicking and screaming with all that pain, but he just gritted his teeth and keep talking about you two and a boy named Henry. I believe that's his cousin, right? Anyway, he's good. I'm concerned about how he got these injuries, but we'll talk about that later. For now, why don't you two go see him, okay? I'm sure that's what he wants most. Oh, and only one of you at a time. Don't want to overload him just yet."_

With these words the doctor walked off to see his other patients. Maggie went in first to see Jasper, and her visit was relatively short. It was mostly her sniffling and telling him how glad she was that he was okay. Then Mr. Bartlett went in, sitting himself on the side of Jasper's hospital bed. His son looked so much worse under the harsh hospital lights. Bruises and cuts littered his face, and he could see Jasper flinch from even the slightest movement.

_"Dad...we have to find Henry. I have to get out of here. Dad-," J_asper said as he was cut off_. _

_"First, tell me what exactly is going on."_

_"It's a long story,"_ Jasper said weakly.

_"It's okay. Just tell me so we can get Henry back," _Mr. Bartlett said as he gently grasped his son's hand.

_"It started three months ago..."_

_TBC  
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_**So that's the first chapter, which is basically somewhere in the middle of the timeline of this story. Jasper will tell his father over the next few chapter all that has happened in the last three months, and then the chapters will get back to the "present day" of this chapter. After that, the story will continue on like normal. Does that make since?**

**Please review. Your reviews inspire me, helping me to update faster and with better precision. I'm excited to see where this story goes.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm glad to see everyone likes the direction this story is going. I had several plots that I had came up with for Unnatural History stories, but this one seemed to make the most sense. You can look forward to an upcoming Unnatural History Greek mythology story, I just have to work out some kinks before I post it.**

**I would also like to say, I posted this Sunday morning instead of Sunday evening because I have several art projects due that I have yet to complete. I definitely would have procrastinated if I had put off both this story and the projects for tomorrow. That, and Thursday afternoon I came down with a Cold _(Or some other ridiculous illness that involves hacking, runny noses, stopped up noses, watering eyes, fevers, and tiredness) _and I've had a lot of time since then to focus on this story.  
**

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It was 4:28 A.M. when Henry woke up early Saturday morning. The previous night he had gone to bed not long after getting home, exhausted by the long school week he had endured. But going to sleep early always had a downside, and being up at this hour was one of them. Gently moving back and forth, Henry's hammock began to gently sway. He liked the motion, reminding him of his many adventures in which he had slept in hammocks around the world. After several minutes he jumped off his resting place, landing on his feet with a soft thud. He had decided that meditating would be a great start to his weekend. Incense, gentle humming, and softly spoken chants this early would surely wake Jasper, so Henry just sat in his meditating position focusing inside himself. But one could only meditate so long, and eventually Henry found himself restless. By now the first rays of the sun could be seen coming up over the horizon. The sky was clear telling the D.C. area that today would be a nice day to go outdoors. Getting up, Henry changed into a pair of loose athletic shorts, a worn out t-shirt, and a dirty pair of sneakers. Henry had opted to go out of the house using the roof, least he wake Uncle Brain. He had opened the window in Jasper's room, slipping out before jumping to the ground below. With all his training from around the world, he knew just how to land to prevent hurting himself. After righting himself, Henry took off towards the park. Today was a good day to go running.

The D.C. area boasted many parks, both large and small. Some were historical or memorial in nature, while other were solely for nature conservation. Henry had to run several miles just to get to his preferred park, but it was worth it. The park was large and forested with no displays or exhibits. The only amenities the park had were a few strategically placed restrooms, benches, and a few long winding paths that cut through the thick amount of trees and brush. To Henry, this was perfect. The only sounds he could readily hear were small chirps and the distinct sound of scurrying animals. Henry had earphones resting on his neck, the sound of Tibetan monks gently mingling with sounds of nature. Jasper had helped Henry purchase one of those, _'iPods,_' and the young adventurer had been using it a lot recently. It was a lot easier to tune out all of D.C.'s hustle and bustle when you could instantly be listening to the best sounds of the many cultures from around the world.

This fine morning in late September was rather cool, and Henry had only seen a few other people in the park. He had ran about six miles now including his jog to the park, and for the last few minutes had been walking to avoid blood pooling. Finding a bench along the path, Henry sat down to rest. He gently relaxed his head on the back of the bench, listening to world around him. He softly hummed along with the monks, remembering the many wise words they had told him. After a decent expanse of time, Henry went to get up only to catch a whiff of a faint but distinct smell in the air. Standing, Henry closed his eyes before taking a deep breath in. Like a bolt of lightning striking him, realization dawned upon him. He had smelt this odor many times, but had never grown accustomed to it. A smell that no matter how many times it's breathed in, always leaves your stomach in knots. It was the smell of death. The smell of rotting flesh. Taking off in the direction of the scent, Henry reached into his pocket pulling out the cellphone he had gotten. He had never quite learned how to use it fully, but he did know that if he pressed down on the button labeled, _'2'_, for several seconds that the device would call Jasper. He brought the phone to his ear, silently praying that Jasper would answer. Relief flushed through Henry when he heard the groggy voice of his cousin.

_"Hello?"_

_"Jasper!"_

_"Henry? Why are you calling me?"_

_"I'm at the park! I need you to get here as soon as possible!"_

_"Henry, what's going on?"_

Henry stopped as the stench in the air seemed to concentrate in the area where he was standing. He could tell that the smell was coming from his left, deep in the forest. The decaying creature was most definitely large to produce such an odor, though he knew the average citizen wouldn't be able to identify the stench. Henry could feel the bile that was rising in his throat, and the fear that gripped his chest. Even though he knew what was deep within those woods, he didn't want to acknowledge it. He didn't want to think about who could have done such a thing. Wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't even notice that he was still on the phone until Jasper's voiced loudly reverberated through the phone.

_"Henry! Henry, are you there?"_

_"Jasper..."_

_"What?"_

_"...I think I found a dead body..."  
_

_

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_It wasn't even twenty minutes later before Henry could see Jasper running down the path towards him. He was right in thinking that the other teen would know exactly which park Henry was talking about. It wasn't like he really went to any other ones. The skinnier, nonathletic teen looked exhausted as he approached his cousin. He bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

_"I got...here...as fast...as I could!"_

_"Did you call the police?"_

_"Yeah...they should be on the way here."_

Jasper, having finally caught his breath, stood up looking at his cousin expectantly.

_"So...where is it?"_

Henry pointed towards the woods opposite of them on the path. They looked thick and menacing, sending shivers up the teens spine. Jasper looked as far a he could into the deeps of the flora, but didn't see anything of interest. Assuming he wasn't close enough to see, he took a hesitant step forward. Now don't get the wrong idea, it wasn't that Jasper actually wanted to see the body. In fact, he really didn't considering he had a weak stomach. But it wasn't often that things like this occurred, and he could feel his teenage curiosity winning over his usual cowardice. He was about to take another hesitant step forward when he felt a strong hand catch his shirt sleeve before pulling. He felt his back collide with something solid before looking over his shoulder at Henry. The young adventurer gave him a disapproving look, something the other teen had never seen on his cousin's face.

_"What?"_

_"...I can smell the body from here, Jasper. The less involved we are the better."_

He had never seen Henry with such a serious and hard expression. His cousin almost looked physically pained just from being here, something that he credited to the smell. The intensity of the situation started to hit him, fear seizing him from the inside. The two stood together on the opposite side of the trail until the police arrived. Henry quickly told the authorities what little he knew, and after a brief explanation of Henry's unique smelling abilities by Jasper, the police squad began searching through the trees and brush. A half an hour later the police were carrying out a body bag from the vegetation. The two boys had been called in for questioning, seeing as it was rather odd that one of them had known the location of the body. They had quickly excused Jasper, seeing that he knew absolutely nothing about the situation. Questioning continued for several hours for Henry, but the investigators eventually learned that he too had nothing to do with the crime.

The car ride home was generally quiet, except for Jasper asking Henry if he was hungry. A solemn shake of the head told Jasper all he needed to know. When they had arrived home, the young adventurer had gone straight to him and his cousin's shared room. When Bryan Bartlett asked his son where the two had been all day, Jasper told him that they had gone to go get breakfast early in the morning and had gone to several other places throughout the day including the movies. Accepting this answer, he left the two boys alone. Jasper went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water before ascending the stairs. When he opened the door to his room, he saw a strange sight. Instead of his cousin resting in his hammock, the teenager was face down on _his_ bed. Normally he'd be pissed, but something was obviously wrong. Jasper gently padded over to his bed, sitting his glass of water on the nightstand before climbing on the mattress beside his face down cousin. He just sat there, waiting for Henry to say what was on his mind. No amount of mental preparation though could have helped Jasper for the sound of his cousin's voice as he shared the burden that weighed upon his heart.

_"It was just a kid, Jasper. He couldn't have been older than fourteen."_

Jasper looked down at his cousin, confusion on his face until recognition hit.

_"They showed you pictures of the body."_

The way his cousin tensed was all the answer he needed. He himself hadn't seen any pictures, but they also didn't question him as long as they had questioned Henry. He could see his cousin's shoulders shake as he spoke again, whether it was from hurt or anger he didn't know.

_"This guy's sick, Jasper...What he did to this boy...it's terrifying...The kid...he was beaten...and gagged...and carved...with all types of weird symbols...and raped over and over again...It's just terrifying."_

Jasper didn't know what shook him worse: that somewhere out there was a man who was capable of these horrific acts, or the pure venom and hurt in his cousin's voice_. _But the words that left his cousin's mouth next made the blood in his veins feel as though they had frozen over.

_"And Jasper...I have a feeling this isn't over."_

He was right. It wasn't over. It was only beginning.

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**Have I ever mentioned I hate being sick? 'Cause I do. When I'm sick, it's hard for me to type and my chapters come out weird. So please excuse any grammatical mistakes, etc. Also, I'm not familiar with the D.C. area, so I don't know much about the parks up there. For all it's worth, there's probably no parks up there like the one I've described. If you live in the D.C. area and know of one like that though, please tell me.**

**I apologize now for my crappy description of our poor victim's condition. He was treated far more violently than Henry is willing to say, and it's just all around a touchy subject. As the story goes on, you'll truly get to see more inside the mind of our killer (who's a lot more intelligent and complex that I let on in this chapter) and his many victims (whom he all treats differently). This is just as small taste. And yeah, Henry and Jasper probably seem a little OOC, but seriously...serial killers and dead bodies would sure as hell make me act weird.  
**

**Uh, review please. Thanks.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Henry wasn't okay. The spark that usually burned within his eyes was now just a fading coal. In the past week he had barely picked at his food, hadn't once meditated or chanted, and more often than not he could be found face down in Jasper's bed. When Monday had came around, Henry had asked if he could stay home from school. Brian Bartlett just couldn't say no as he took in the sight of his nephew. He had large, dark circles under his eyes, and he looked terrible. For the rest of the week the young adventurer stayed home. He spent most of the day just staring of in space, a trouble look adorning his face. His thoughts stayed focused on the young boy who had been killed. The Wednesday after he had found the body, the story had made it way from the local new to the national news. They had identified the boy, stating he was a thirteen year old student from Ohio who's family had reported him missing four months prior to the body being found. He had been abducted between his school and his house, and they had no substantial clues to help identify who had taken him. The only thing they had was a small symbol, a symbol Henry noted he had seen on the body, that had been left on their doorstep.

* * *

Soft light had started to filter through the blinds by the time Jasper woke up Saturday morning. He yawned and rubbed his eyes as he began to turn over. However, the feeling of a warm body in his bed stopped him dead in his tracks. He quickly looked over to see who was in his bed, and upon seeing his cousin he wasn't sure whether to be angry or pitying. The other boy had his arms clutched around Jasper's waist, his head buried in his shoulder. Jasper gently moved Henry's hands away from him, getting up to go take his daily morning shower. He turned the water on, then stripped before getting in. Jasper leaned against the tiled wall, warm droplets of water cascading over his skin. He didn't move from this position for several minutes, his thoughts keeping him distracted. In all the time Henry had lived with him, he had never crawled into Jasper's bed while he was sleeping. Hell, Henry usually didn't get near his cousin's bed at all. But the past week Henry had been restless, and Jasper had heard the other boy's distress as he sleep in his hammock. This murder case had effected his cousin far more than Jasper had ever thought was possible, and he wasn't sure how he could help Henry. All Jasper knew was that his cousin needed someone, and he was the only one who could help.

After drying himself off and getting dressed, Jasper had gone back to his room. Henry was still asleep, curled up in the sheets. He almost didn't want to wake the boy, but knew it was inevitable. Sighing, Jasper walked over to his bed. He gently shook Henry, waking the other boy from his first peaceful sleep in a week. Henry stirred, and after momentary confusion, he jumped out of his cousin's bed.

_"Jasper, I'm so sorry. I don't know how I got in your bed."_

_"It's okay, Henry. But we need to talk."_

Jasper sat on his bed, then patted the mattress next to him. Henry sat down, his eyes glued to the floor. The room was silent, but it couldn't be helped. Neither was sure about what should be said next. After several minutes the silence was broken.

_"Henry, snap out of this."_

_"Huh?"_

_"The Henry I know isn't going to let himself be brought down like this. He's strong and courageous."_

_"But-"_

_"No. Henry, I know that what happened to that boy was wrong, but it wasn't your fault. If anything, you're helping justice be brought down upon the freak that killed him. And that boy's family can give him a proper funeral now. They can find closure."_

Jasper gently patted Henry's shoulder before getting up to get breakfast. As he walked out his bedroom door he looked back at his cousin.

_"You know you are a hero, right? You've saved so many people, stopped so many criminals…D.C. still needs you, Smithson High still needs you, and Maggie and I need you too."_

Henry watched as Jasper disappeared around the corner, a soft smile touching his face. Jasper was right. He couldn't lose his focus. There was a criminal out there…and someone had to stop him. Making up his mind, Henry jumped off the bed, running down the stairs and towards the kitchen. He was starving.

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**I know this chapter is both late, not edited, and very short. I'm so sorry. I'm having a mini crisis concerning my GPA, classes, college, my ACT, and my SAT. I never would have imagined being a junior would be this hard. Please bare with me. Thanks.**

**p.s. Henry should be back in character for chapter four.**


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